The subject matter herein relates generally to connector assemblies, and more particularly, to connector assemblies that are configured to communicatively couple different components, such as circuit boards.
Some systems, such as servers, routers, and data storage systems, utilize connector assemblies for transmitting data signals and/or power through the system. Such systems typically include a backplane or a midplane circuit board, a motherboard, and a plurality of daughter cards. The connector assemblies may be attached to the circuit board(s) for interconnecting the daughter cards to the circuit board(s) when the daughter cards are inserted into the system. Each daughter card includes a connector assembly having a mating face that includes a plurality of contacts. Likewise, the backplane connector assembly may have a mating face with corresponding contacts. The daughter card connector assembly is typically positioned on or near a leading edge of the daughter card. Prior to being mated, the mating faces of the daughter card connector assembly and the backplane connector assembly are aligned with each other and face each other along a mating axis. The daughter card is then moved in an insertion direction along the mating axis until the contacts of the different mating faces engage each other.
Accordingly, conventional backplane (or midplane) connector assemblies interconnect daughter cards and backplane circuit boards by moving the daughter card in an insertion direction which is the same as the mating direction. In some cases, it may be desirable to mate the daughter card in a mating direction that is perpendicular to the insertion direction. However, when the receptacle assembly of the daughter card faces a direction that is perpendicular to the insertion direction (e.g., perpendicular to a surface of the daughter card) and the backplane connector assembly also faces a direction that is perpendicular to the insertion direction, it may be difficult to properly align and mate the corresponding contacts. The contacts may be used to transmit data signals or electrical power. In either case, it may be difficult to properly align the contacts of the daughter card and the backplane connector assembly.
Accordingly, there is a need for connector assemblies that facilitate interconnecting a printed circuit to another communication component to transmit data signals and/or power when the printed circuit and the communication component are oriented in an orthogonal relationship as described above. There is also a general need for alternative connector assemblies that are capable of interconnecting separate communication components having an orthogonal relationship.